After a few days of some good rain that broke that 3 week heat wave, we are finally seeing some mushrooms emerge. One common mushroom seen this time of year is the Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). The oyster mushroom is a commonly sought after edible wild mushroom due to its tastiness and lack of confusing look-alikes, making it easy to identify. It creates fruiting bodies (the part we call the mushroom) from spring-fall.
In the wild these mushroom are commonly found growing on dead hardwood trees. They also are cultivated commercially and can found in the produce sections of many grocery stores.To learn more about identifying edible mushrooms see the Mushroom Club of Georgia's website, and for those of you who are interested, they are having a mushroom walk next weekend at Stone Mountain Park.
